Animal-hopple.



No. 677,583. Patented July 2, I90! J. P. MEALS.

ANIMAL HOPPLE.

(Application filed May 4, 1901.1

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

JACOB P. MEALS, OF RAWLINGS, WYOMING.

ANlMAL-HOPPLE.

SPECIFIQJXEIQN fomirtg part of Letters Patent No.'677,583, dated July 2,1901.

Application filed May 4, 1901. Serial No. 58,723. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB P. MEALS, a'citizen of the United States,residing at Rawlings, in the county of Carbon and State of Wyoming, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Animal-floppies; and Ido hereby declare the following, to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in hopplesfor limiting the movements of the legs of horses and other animals whilegrazing and to restrain them from undue wandering or swift movement.

My invention has for its object to provide a hopple of simple andeconomic construction, which may be expeditiously applied to andreleased from the legs of the animal, and while admitting of thenecessary limited or hoppled movement of the animal will at the sametime prevent any tendency to chafe or to bruise the leg of the animal bythe usual rotary or slipping movement of the fastening devices andtheirpads. The movement of the hoppled animals and the length of theirnatural steps vary to a large extent, and while the hopple-chainnecessarily limits the length of the step or stride a concommitant disadvantage lies in the fact that the variations in the movements have to beaccommodated by the rotary or slipping movement of the fastening-strapswhich encircle the leg, and consequently under the ordinary constructionthere is a likelihood of bruising or chafing the leg.

My invention is designed to overcome this dis-' advantage; and itconsists in the construction and arrangement hereinafter described bymeans of which all variations in the character and extent of themovement of the legs are compensated for by the movements of the devicesinterposed between the end links of the chain and the fastening devicesencircling the legs of the animal, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertainsmay fully understand the same, lwill proceed to describe theconstruction and operation of my improved hopple, referring by lettersto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of myimproved device with the fetlock-pads shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig.

3 is a detail plan view showing a modification of the construction ofthe connecting-bar.

Similar letters of reference denote like parts in the several figures ofthe drawings.

A represents pads interposed between the securing-straps B and the legof the animal in order that the straps may be tightly fas tened withouthurting the animal. These pads A may be secured to the fastening-strapsB by rivets or in any other suitable manner, or they may be entirelyindependent therefrom, and in either case they preferably have theiredges flared outwardly, as shown at Fig. 2, to prevent verticaldisplacement of said pads and at the same time to permit the freevibratory movement of the legs in the act of walking.

The fastening-straps B are provided with any suitable buckle (I and akeeper D to maintain the straps in any given or proper adjust ment. Theinner end of the strap is folded upon itself to constitute a loop E,which may be strengthened and cushioned by a secondary loop or layer E.Within the loop E is confined the straight vertical portion of a D-shaped link F, and a similar link G is secured in vertical parallelismwith the link F by passing the strap through the same, as clearly shownat Fig. 1. The curved outer portions of the D-shaped links F and Gareconnected bya bar H, having eyes I at each end, as shown at Fig. 1, orof the form shown at Fig. 3. The bars are connected to one another byachain J of suitable and predetermined length, and by preference 2.suitable swivel-joint K is placed between two of the links of the chain.

\Vhen the several parts are all connected and the hopple is properlysecured to the legs of an animal and a step is made forward with theright leg, the D-shaped links F and G, bars H, and chain J will assumethe relative positions shown in dotted lines at Fig. 1, and when theleft leg moves forward the positions of the several parts will bereversed in an obvious manner, the D-shaped links vibrating like hingesupon the fastening-straps and carrying with their outer ends the bars H,while at the same time the links of the chain through which the bars Hpass slide freely Ice upon said bars from one to the other end as theanimal moves. All tendency of the straps V to rotate around the legs ofthe animal is thus avoided, and consequently said straps may be moresecurely fastened than could be done if it were necessary to provide fora slip movement of the same.

From the construction shown and described it will be seen that themovement of the chain which connects the straps together and constitutesthe hopple is at all times and under varying conditions entirelyindependent of the securing-straps and pads, and consequently the latterremain in fixed relation with the legs of the animal. It will also bereadily seenthatshould the securing-straps wear out new straps maybesubstituted and the hopple made as perfect as when originallymanufactured and that this may be done without the intervention of askilled mechanic orthe use of any special tools or machinery, which is amatter of great importance when the devices are used in looalitiesremote from business centers.

Having described the construction, operation, and advantages of myimproved'hopple, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

An improved hopple consisting of ordinary securing-straps and aconnecting-chain, the end links of the chain and the securing-strapsbeing connected together by means of vertically-disposed parallel links,connected at one end with the straps, and at the opposite endvibrativelyconnected with a horizontal bar, the latter passing throughthe end link of the chain, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB P. MEALS.

YVitnesses:

N. R. GREENFIELD, MAT BAROCH.

